The Smiths received threats from paramilitary factions during their 1984 Irish tour according to a new book charting the impact of second generation Irish musicians on English pop music.
'Irish Blood, English Heart' by Seán Campbell, a senior lecturer in the Department of English and Media at Cambridge, also reveals unpublished material about Dexy’s Midnight Runners singer Kevin Rowland's meetings with Sinn Féin representatives in the early 1980s, leading to his plans to perform a Dexy's concert for an Irish language school.
Campbell also gives an account of The Pogues' reception in mid-80s Ireland when they were accused of being "anti-Irish".
'Irish Blood, English Heart', the title taken from a Morrissey song, explores the role of Irish ethnicity in the lives and work of the second generation, and focuses on Rowland, The Pogues and The Smiths.
The book draws on original interviews with the key musicians, including, Rowland, Shane MacGowan and Johnny Marr. It sees the second generation as a highly active and creative presence at the forefront of both British and Irish culture.
Campbell, who was raised in an Irish family in England in the 1970s and 80s, is a musician and writer, and is the co-author of 'Beautiful Day: Forty Years of Irish Rock'.
